LibGuides: Search Help: Common Search Problems: I can't find full text articles

Intro

Academic journals are getting more expensive every year, so the library is not able to provide access to every journal article. But your ISU library has solutions to get you the articles you need!

Use your database to filter results to full text only
Make sure you're accessing your database from the library's website or subject guide
Get the Unpaywall browser extension to locate an open access (free) version of the article
For that great article you found that we don't have in full text, put in an Interlibrary Loan Request to get your article delivered electronically from another library

Filter Your Results to Show Full Text Only

ISU Library databases have an option in the left-side menu to limit results to only those available in full text.

A filter menu in CINAHL with the Full Text checkbox selected.

Other databases (such as PubMed) have similar options.

Access Databases from the Library Website or Subject Guide

You should always access databases via a link from the ISU library's home page or subject guide! Databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar can check our holdings and provide a link to ISU resources (the orange "Find it @ ISU" button) when they are available.

When you access PubMed or Google Scholar from an ISU library page, the link will contain "libpublic3.library.isu.edu," showing that the database knows you have access to full text through ISU.

When you run a search in Google Scholar via the library's website, results will appear with a "Find it at Idaho State U" link to the right of the record. Clicking this link will take you to ISU's full text access for this article.

Find it at Idaho State U link on a Google Scholar search result.

Use the database tab on the library's homepage to find a link to the database you wish to search, or access it from your ISU Subject Guide. The image below shows the ISU Library homepage with the database tab selected, and the CINAHL database has been chosen from the drop-down menu.

Image shows the Databases tab with the CINAHL database selected.

The Unpaywall Browser Extension

Whether you use Firefox or Chrome, you can search in the extension store for a free browser extension known as Unpaywall (use the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Addons to find the extension). When you are viewing an article where a free copy is available, the Unpaywall browser extension will show a green "unlock" icon on the side of the page. Click it to be taken to the free version.

The screenshot below shows an example of viewing a journal article on a publisher website, where the green lock icon is indicating that a free full text copy of the article is available.

The green unlock icon from the Unpaywall browser extension shown on the right side of a webpage.

Interlibrary Loan at ISU

The Interlibrary Loan service at ISU can get you an electronic copy of an article for free! This service can take as little as a few hours, or as long as a week or more, depending on which library provides the article to us, so it's not a solution for getting the article quickly. But if you can afford to wait a bit, it's a perfect solution. To use the service, sign into your Interlibrary Loan account from the ISU library homepage. All you need to do is sign in with your Bengal ID and last name, and (if it's your first time), fill out a brief registration form. Then enter the details of the article you wish to request, and you'll be notified by email when it is available!

The Interlibrary Loan link on the ISU Library Homepage.

Note that in some situations, the article may not be available from another library, either. In that case, you will be notified that the article cannot be retrieved.

For more information on how to use Interlibrary Loan, see our ILL subject guide, or if you prefer to watch a video, check out this YouTube playlist: